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Arabtec expects '08 revenue to hit $2.2bn

Dubai-based construction group may expand operations in Saudi as construction costs rise in the UAE.

By Staff writer

Thu 01 May 2008 10:48 AM

Arabtec Holding PJSC expects to hit full year revenue of about 8 billion dirhams ($2.2 billion) and may expand operations in Saudi Arabia in 2008 as construction costs rise in the UAE.

“Arabtec Construction should hit the 6 billion dirhams mark, while Arabtec Holding should probably reach 8 billion dirhams,” Arabtec chairman Riad Kamal said in an exclusive interview to be published in Arabian Business magazine.

Construction costs may rise more than 30% in the UAE according to Kamal, who said the biggest increases had come from steel and cement.

Arabtec is building the world’s tallest tower in Dubai and this week won its largest ever contract in Russia, a $2.7 billion contract to build a 400m tower in St Petersburg for the oil of arm of Russian national gas company Gazprom.

The UAE’s only publicly-traded construction company won over Russian and European bidders for the deal to build the mixed-use Okhta Centre development, jointly owned by Gazprom Neft and the City of St. Petersburg.

The complex includes office space, along with leisure and entertainment facilities including a library and sports centre.

Arabtec is expanding operations overseas where it hopes to generate as much as 30% of its business by 2010.

The contractor has already launched units in Syria, Pakistan, Jordan and Qatar and now plans to add contracts in Saudi Arabia.